In theater management, women take center stage

Their names are Julie, Maëlle, Pauline, they are in their thirties or approaching their forties, they have attended the conservatory or a theater school.

Actresses, they created their collective and moved on to directing, to confront reality, to question the world, to breathe more poetry into it.

After having imposed themselves on the boards, this new generation of author-directors took the direction of theaters, national drama centers (CDN).

A Tribune

Together, the 18 directors of CDN wrote a first forum in December 2021, highlighting the inequalities between men and women.

Strong gesture: this summer, in Avignon, the men, directors of CDN, joined them, signing a Charter of parity in the programming and the means of production.

Solidarity binds these women.

Key words pepper their conversation: territory, decentralization, public service... Even if they are 46% today at the head of the CDNs, the national theaters are still managed by men... Jean Vilar said: "It is therefore to make a society, after which we will perhaps do some good theatre.

It's up to them!

Chloé Dabert, Comédie-CDN de Reims

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Chloe Dabert Yann Rabanier

THREE DATES:

2014, Impatience festival prize for his production of

by Dennis Kelly;

2018, staging at the Comédie-Française of

by Jean-Luc Lagarce;

2019, appointed head of the Comédie-CDN de Reims.

“Giving objectives, meaning, accompanying a team and artists other than yourself to meet an audience.”

the 38 directors of CDN have signed a Parity Charter.

It is a written commitment.

“Milo Rau, whom I discovered with

in Avignon in 2018. It's documentary theatre, very political, impactful every time.

Mantra: “Abandon the fast lanes and follow uncertain tracks”, Jean-Luc Lagarce in

»

«Joël Jouanneau, author, director.

My teacher at the conservatory.

A great teacher.”

“The legitimacy of women to access the big plateaus.

Let it no longer be a question.”

by Dennis Kelly, on November 23 and 24 at CDN-Orléans, and from December 6 to 23 at Théâtre 14, in Paris.

Julie Deliquet, Gérard-Philipe theatre, CDN of Saint-Denis

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Julie DeliquetYann Rabanier

THREE DATES:

2009, creation of his collective In Vitro;

2016, first experience at the Comédie-Française with

after Chekhov;

2020, direction of the Gérard-Philippe Theater in Saint-Denis.

"Pursuing your artistic vision in public service by thinking of a collective project for the artists of today and tomorrow, for the spectators, for the inhabitants of a territory."

“We tell ourselves that recognition is enough.

But recognition does not prevent violence.

The fight in place today is not won tomorrow.

“

a play by Alexander Zeldin, seen as part of the last Autumn Festival.

His work in the field of the social transposed on stage questions me about the theater of tomorrow.

““It's easy for no one to speak beyond their condition” and “We always have more power than we think”.

Two sentences taken from my last show, proletarian fresco,

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

“Delphine Seyrig.

We renamed the large hall of the Gérard-Philipe Theater in his name.

It is the first time that she has had a woman's name.

"Access for women to the highest spheres, if they want to."

according to Molière, until January 15, at La Comédie-Française, in Paris.

Maëlle Poésy, Dijon-Bourgogne theater, CDN

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Maëlle Poésy Yann Rabanier

THREE DATES:

2007, admission to the TNS drama school;

2016, adaptation and staging of two plays by Chekhov for the Studio-Théâtre de la Comédie-Française;

in 2021, takes up her duties as director of the Dijon-Bourgogne Theater.

“Teamwork.

Also the responsibility of a public service aspect.

It is with an artistic project that we defend a territory.

“It revealed a place of violence in society that was 'invisibilized'.

The absolute necessity that this thing be regulated, thought out, changed.”

: “

by Tiago Rodrigues, seen in Quebec in 2015. Or poetry as a force of resistance.

Wonderful !"

“Given the context, I will quote the sentence of Seneca: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain”.

“Judith Butler, Pina Bausch, Ohad Naharin, Marguerite Duras, Virginie Despentes, Robert Filliou, among others…”

“Parity in the management of national theaters as well as the same means of production and distribution.”

by Stefano Massini, from November 17 to 19, at the Théâtre-Sénart, national stage, and on December 9 and 10, at Points Communs, national stage of Cergy.

And also

either a proposal by Maëlle Poésy and the visual artist Noémie Goudal, with the performance artist Chloé Moglia and the musical creation of Chloé Thévenin, from March 29 to April 1, 2023, at the Center Pompidou, in Paris.

Pauline Bayle, CDN - Public Theater of Montreuil

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Pauline Bayle Yann Rabanier

THREE DATES:

2010, entry into the Conservatory;

2019, adaptation and staging of

the novel by Leïla Slimani, at the Studio-Théâtre de la Comédie-Française;

January 2022, takes over the management of the Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil.

“An elan towards others, an elan of creation, an elan towards the public.”

"The responsibility of being permeable to this change in society, of being equal to this change."

“

by choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

She succeeded with this work to give body to the vital energy in its chaos and its greatest harmony.

"Be if possible, and each at their own pace, at your own strength, the one who makes the unrecognizable gesture, be the unheard voice, the undetectable body in these times of false wisdom and venal resemblance", a sentence by Didier-Georges Gabily extracted from

“

Virginia Woolf.

My next show,

in June 2023, is about her.”

“Parity is no longer a subject.

This is the base, the starting point.

Women need to make their voices heard.”

according to Homère, on tour, December 3 in Châteauroux;

according to Balzac, from November 16 to 26 at the Célestins, in Lyon.

Julia Vidit, Manufacture Theater, CDN Nancy-Lorraine

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Julia Vidit Yann Rabanier

THREE DATES:

2003, leaving the CNSAD (National Higher Conservatory of Dramatic Art);

first staging

by Pierre Desproges;

2021, appointed director of the Théâtre de la Manufacture, CDN Nancy-Lorraine.

“Leading a theatrical adventure with a team, with audiences, on a territory.

It's super tough!"

“Awareness of the need to be in healthy relationships.

Something is on the way… But there is still work to be done!”

“

of Koltès, played and directed by Patrice Chéreau at the Manufacture des Œillets.

I cried the four hours of Paris-Metz bus.

"Depending on the day, I oscillate between: 'I'm furious at being silent and hearing lies', by Corneille, and 'Being happy is always being happy despite everything', by Clément Rosset."

“Jeanne Laurent, actress of decentralization, Dominique Valadié, actress, Edward Bond, author.”

““Women will truly be equal to men the day an incompetent woman is appointed to an important position.”

Françoise Giroud, March 11, 1983.”

shared creation at the CDN in Nancy, May 13 and 14, 2023;

according to Pirandello, by Guillaume Cayet, on tour.

BY CANDLE LIGHT

In this portfolio, we have staged these theater women surrounded by candles, as a nod to tradition.

At the end of the 16th century, the hall and the stage were one.

This space was lit by tallow candles laced with wax.

The life of a candle was twenty minutes.

Whole candles were only used during exceptional performances with the king.

With the Italian theater, in the 18th century, the banister appears in the foreground, which is a succession of candles.

From the end of the 18th century, the stage lighting revolution began with the arrival of the oil lamp.

It replaces all the candles, candles and lanterns on stage, and will itself be relayed by the introduction of electric light.